Weird AU as yet untitled
by Flamebyrd
Summary: Sumeragi Hokuto wakes up to find that nothing is the way she remembers it to be. (Days 9 & 10 added.)
1. Day One

_Yeah, so when I came up with this idea I'd had three hours of sleep. It kind of shows, really. Warnings? Well, Straight!Subaru for starters. It's weird, believe me. Nothing else is really objectionable. No yaoi, either.  
  
Spoilers for all of Tokyo Babylon and some of X. Tokyo Babylon belongs to CLAMP, as do the characters from X.  
_ **  
  
PROLOGUE  
**  
So, this was death.  
  
"Subaru!" she said. /Kakyou/...  
  
/It hurts./  
  
Funny, that she hadn't anticipated this in giving up her life for her brother's.  
  
/Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts.../  
  
  
  
**DAY ONE  
**  
Hokuto awoke to the sound of somebody knocking somewhat insistently on her apartment door. She blinked, slowly, staring up at the ceiling. It was white, with a few tiny cracks spidering out from the corners. It was complete unfamiliar to her.  
  
"Hokuto-chan! Hokuto-chan, are you in there? We're going to be late!"  
  
Frowning, she got out of bed and fumbled her way through to answer the door. "Sei-chan? What are you doing here?" /What am I doing here, for that matter?/ she thought, suddenly realising the stupidity of her statement.  
  
He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, smooth as ever. "Don't tell me you've forgotten? You offered to babysit for Subaru while he takes Mitsuki out for their anniversary."  
  
"... Anniversary? Subaru? Since when is Subaru married?" she asked, incredulously.  
  
It might have been her imagination, but she thought Seishirou looked a bit non-plussed. "Um. That was 5 years ago, remember? You were the best man."  
  
/I was the WHAT?!/   
  
"Don't tell me after all the trouble you went to to get them together you don't remember?"  
  
"But... Subaru is... Subaru loves YOU! It's YOU TWO I was trying to get together! OnlyitturnedoutyoumadeabetwithhimwhenhewasreallylittleandyoureallywantedtokillhimsoIstoppedyouandmadeyoukillmeinsteadsoyoucouldbetogetherand..."  
  
He stared at her. "Hokuto-chan, what are you talking about?"  
  
"You! You're the Sakurazukamori! And you want to kill my brother!"  
  
"Hokuto-chan, maybe it would be best if you went back to bed..." said Seishirou, glancing at her nightdress with a significant air.  
  
"No! Tell me, ARE you the Sakurazukamori?"  
  
"Hokuto-chan, either I am not the Sakurazukamori, in which case my answer will be no, or I am and I will lie to you. Either way, I feel the answer to that question is irrelevant."  
  
Hokuto threw her hands up into the air in frustration. "Fine! Do you want my brother dead?"  
  
"No," he said simply.  
  
She regarded him suspiciously. "Fine. I'll believe you. For now."  
  
"Thank you," he said with an air of extreme patience. "Now, are you going to get dressed or not?"  
  
Giving him one final glare over her shoulder, she flounced into her bedroom to find some clothing.  
  
Her options were disgustingly plain. Since when, she wondered, had she been a fan of blacks and muted greens? It was absolutely ridiculous.  
  
"Hokuto-chan, please hurry up..."  
  
Sighing, she threw on a pair of black pants and top, with a red jacket she could have sworn she once dressed Subaru in and made her way out to Seishirou. "There! How do I look?"  
  
He blinked at her. "Very nice. Now, can we go?"  
  
She obediently followed him out to his car, blinking at him in surprise when he walked around to open the door for her. "Such a gentleman, Sei-chan!" she laughed.  
  
"Hokuto-chan, WHY do you keep calling me that?"  
  
Hokuto stopped laughing. "But I've always called you that!"  
  
"Hokuto-chan, I can quite seriously say that you have never called me that before in your life."  
  
"But... But..."  
  
Seishirou shrugged, and turned the corner at a surprisingly sedate speed.  
  
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" she yelled at the window in frustration.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Seishirou wince. "Hokuto-chan, you probably just had some very strange dreams. My waking you up so suddenly temporarily disrupted your perception of what is and isn't real," he said, in a patient tone. "Give it a few hours, you'll be fine."  
  
After a few moments of silent fuming, she decided that breaking the window would solve nothing and resolved to stay silent for the rest of the journey.  
  
The journey seemed to last forever - something which Hokuto figured had to be a combination of how high strung she was and the fact that Subaru really did live quite a way out from the city centre.   
  
Subaru and his wife had apparently managed to buy a small house in the outer suburbs. It was a nice little house, in her opinion, with small, neat garden out the front. They pulled up in front of it and parked in the driveway.  
  
As soon as Seishirou got out of the car, two small children emerged from behind the fence and flung themselves at him.   
  
"Sei-shi-rou-san," pronounced the larger child carefully, then abandoning all formality as he scooped her up and swung her in the air. She giggled helplessly. "Ne, will you be staying?"  
  
Shaking his head. "Sorry, Hikaru-chan. I have other work to do. I'm just here to drop your aunt off."  
  
"He~eh? Hokuto-bachan is here?"  
  
Feeling somewhat overwhelmed, Hokuto crept out from her safe position behind the car.  
  
"No fair hiding!" cried Hikaru, stamping her foot. The young boy had no such problems with her and ran out to attach himself to her leg.   
  
"Children! Come here!" called a female voice, in a very 'mother' tone.  
  
So this was the mysterious Mitsuki, Subaru's wife. Hokuto regarded her intently for a few moments before crying out. "You're THAT Mitsuki!" she said in an accusing voice.  
  
The woman stopped and blinked at her.  
  
"You're the one that told Subaru you hated him because he wasn't normal! That really hurt him, you know, it took me an entire week to convince him that being not normal didn't make you any less a better person." She glared.  
  
"Um... Hokuto-chan..." And that was her brother, looking quite confused. "We've already been over this. Mitsuki apologised for that years ago and I forgave her."  
  
Now she remembered the case in question. Remembering what had happened to bring that conversation about made her flush with embarrassment. "I'm... I'm sorry. It just took me by surprise, that's all."  
  
"I think Hokuto-chan is having some reality issues," said Seishirou, in a stage whisper to Hikaru. The little girl giggled.  
  
"Are you okay, Hokuto-chan?" asked Subaru, sounding concerned.  
  
She nodded, although she didn't feel fine at all. "Just... all of a sudden, nothing seems to make sense. I keep forgetting things I should know and remembering things that nobody else does. It's... weird."  
  
He squeezed her on the shoulder gently. "Come inside and have some tea. I'll call the restaurant and warn them we'll be late, if that's okay."  
  
Mitsuki nodded, and herded the children inside.  
  
The first thing she noticed about her brother over tea was that he was very happy.  
  
He was also not the Subaru she knew. This Subaru was less quiet - more outgoing. He smiled and joked with his wife about the children, and presented Hokuto with a big hug and a bouquet of flowers as they were leaving. "For giving up your evening for the brats," he said affectionately.  
  
Seishirou waved to her. "Have a nice time. I'll be back to pick you up tomorrow morning."  
  
She blinked. So that was why he had come along.  
  
"The number of the restaurant is on the whiteboard," said Mitsuki. "There's the usual towel and things set out for you in the spare room, too. Bed-time is 7:30, as Hikaru knows. Don't let her tell you any different."  
  
"Thank you," she said, faintly.  
  
The door slammed. Now all she had left to face was the two miniature whirlwinds called Hikaru and... damn. She didn't know the boy's name.  
  
It was easy enough to pick up. The girl was Hikaru and she was 5 years old, and the boy was Ryu and he was 3 years old. Hikaru lived up to her name perfectly, being bright and bubbly and somewhat outspoken. Ryu seemed to be content to live in his elder sister's shadow, but Hokuto made the extra effort to make him speak for himself a little.  
  
She taught them five different word games; two ball games and two variations of hide and seek. By the time bed-time arrived she was exhausted and Ryu looked about ready to fall asleep on the spot.  
  
"Come on you two, bed time," she said, gently pushing them in the direction of what she hoped was the bedrooms.  
  
Surprisingly, there were no objections, not even from the generally hyperactive Hikaru.  
  
Once the two of them were tucked in, the nightlights turned on and the pictures books read, she returned to the living room. The house seemed unnervingly quiet.  
  
Sighing, she flopped down on the sofa to watch television until Subaru and Mitsuki arrived home. Really, all she wanted to do was sleep.  
  
-- TO BE CONTINUED   
Comments appreciated. Constructive criticism appreciated even more. And, yes, I do know what is going on and yes, it is rather strange. 


	2. Day Two

**DAY TWO**  
  
By the time Hokuto awoke the next morning and nothing had changed, she was convinced something was Going On.   
  
And when something was weird like this, she knew the perfect person to ask. All she had to do was figure out how to get there, since she obviously didn't have a car.  
  
Seishirou arrived at ten o'clock on the dot to take her home. After several moments deliberation, she decided against asking him to take her where she wanted to go. She still wasn't quite sure she trusted him.  
  
Once back in her apartment, she considered her options. They appeared to be taxi or public transport.  
  
After rummaging through the house for money and realising a taxi would be way too expensive, she decided to take a bus.  
  
An hour and a half later, she stood outside a solid brick house, throwing rocks at a barred window.  
  
"Kakyou-san," she said in a low voice, remembering to be polite at the last minute, "I know you're there. Please talk to me?"  
  
The world in front of her remained frustratingly solid.  
  
"Please? Kakyou-san..."  
  
She threw a rather large stone at the bars, wincing and ducking as it rebounded with a satisfying /thwock/.  
  
At last, she felt the familiar stirring of a dreamscape being pulled around her. "What were you /doing/?" she asked the dreamgazer, pouting. "I thought I was going to get caught out!"  
  
He stared at her. "What are you doing? How do you know about me?"  
  
She blinked. "Don't tell me you don't remember? I'm Sumeragi Hokuto-chan!"  
  
"Sumeragi Hokuto...chan?" He closed his eyes. "I remember that I dreamt of you not long ago." He regarded her seriously. "You are not this world's Hokuto-chan," said Kakyou.  
  
Hokuto's shoulders slumped. "I'd guessed that, although I didn't really want to believe it. Tell me what I'm doing here? And how do I get back to my world?"  
  
"You are dead in your world," he said, simply.  
  
"I know THAT!"  
  
"This world's Hokuto is dead, too."  
  
She blinked. "But nobody's said anything to me... I mean, they've been making comments about how strange I've been acting, I'd expect someone to notice my not being dead."  
  
"She died in a traffic accident. Nobody knows except the person that hit her. It is his fault you are here."  
  
"Why?  
  
"Because he tried to bring you back with a spell."  
  
"But... the spell went wrong and he got me instead of her?"  
  
Kakyou shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know anything about magic."  
  
She frowned. "Do you think it would be safe to talk to my brother about it?"  
  
He shrugged again.  
  
"Kakyou..." she began, hesitantly, thinking he was mad at her. "I know you probably don't have any idea what I'm talking about, since you're from this world and all, but I have to say... I'm sorry."  
  
The dreamgazer gave her a mystified look.  
  
"And I AM going to get you out, I swear. Even if I have to hire an army."  
  
"Hokuto-chan... We've never met before."  
  
She found herself gaping like a fish. "Eh? But... I was walking along the road and you brought me here because you wanted to meet somebody!"  
  
He looked somehow apologetic. "I remember that. But... it wasn't you that I met."  
  
Hokuto deflated miserably. "I guess it really could have been anybody, then?"  
  
"The girl wasn't too pleased about being wrenched out of her own little world - she hit me and screamed that I should return her as soon as possible. So I did. I never tried to talk to anybody again."  
  
Hokuto paused. "I'm sorry," she said, after a moment.  
  
He sighed. "It's okay. I've been alone so long, I'm almost used to it."  
  
"So... will you mind if I come here again?"  
  
Kakyou shook his head.  
  
She found herself smiling brightly. "Thank you!" Feeling more cheerful than she had all day, she danced around him and transformed the dreamscape around them to represent the seaside.  
  
The dreamgazer stared at the blue of the ocean in a kind of wonder.  
  
"The real ocean is much nicer than this," she told him, with a self-satisfied nod. "Once I get you out of here, we'll go. We'll have ice cream and eat it on the sand, okay?"  
  
He nodded, looking somewhat overwhelmed.  
  
"But I should go now, before someone notices I'm gone."  
  
He nodded again. "Um..." he began, hesitantly. "If it means anything to you... I wish it had been you I met that time."  
  
She smiled at him and gave him a quick, shy hug. "I do, too."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
When Hokuto finally got off the train, she discovered that the next bus past her apartment block wasn't due for another half hour. Hokuto rummaged around in her bag until she found the mobile phone she was sure she had seen earlier, and raided the address book for Seishirou's number.  
  
He picked up on the third ring. "Hokuto-chan? What's wrong?"  
  
"Um. Are you busy?"  
  
"No, I'm at home. Aren't you?"  
  
"Actually," she said brightly, "I'm not. Can you come pick me up? I'm at the train station."   
  
"Hokuto-chan, WHAT are you doing there?"  
  
"Visiting a friend. I'll explain once you come pick me up, okay?"  
  
With a long-suffering sigh, he told her he'd be there in about ten minutes. She made sure to have a small bundle of flowers ready for him as a thank you.  
  
He graciously accepted the flowers, but still insisted on opening the car door for her.  
  
"So," he said, once they were safely settled in Hokuto's apartment with tea in front of them, "what were you doing at the train station? You do know I'd be perfectly happy to drive you anywhere you need to go, right?"  
  
She gave him a long look. "I wasn't certain if I could trust you."  
  
He looked somewhat affronted. "What have I ever done to hurt you, Hokuto-chan?"  
  
"Nothing. Yet." She glared at him. "Tell me, Seishirou-san, what IS your connection to the Sakurazukamori?"  
  
He laughed, gaily. "You already know my past, Hokuto-chan. Whatever makes you think I'd lie to you?"  
  
She glared at him, wondering what it was she "already knew".  
  
"Really, Hokuto-chan, it's not a funny joke."  
  
She continued to stare flatly at him, with her best "I'm not buying a word of this" look.  
  
"Let me guess... On the couch for a week if I don't tell you what you want to hear?"  
  
Hokuto spluttered incoherently for several moments. "WHAT?!" she managed, eventually. "No, don't tell me, I really don't want to know."  
  
He looked surprised and somewhat hurt at her reaction.  
  
She decided to ignore it for the moment. "Listen. Sakurazukamori. I know there's a connection, so don't lie to me, okay?"  
  
Seishirou remained silent.  
  
Damn you and your stubbornness, Sei-chan! she thought, furiously. "Oh, just get out," she said, exasperated. "I've had enough."  
  
Still looking somewhat bewildered, Seishirou left her apartment.  
  
Tired and suddenly depressed, Hokuto flopped onto her bed and lay there for a few minutes, listening to the sound of her own breathing.   
  
After a few moments, she got up to ring Subaru. Figuring he would probably be working, she hunted around until she found his mobile number, and called that.  
  
"Hokuto-chan?" said her brother, sounding somewhat surprised. "What are you ringing for?"  
  
"I wanted to know if you want to meet for coffee sometime this afternoon. I have something very important to discuss with you..."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Hokuto figured the best way to get the point across to Subaru was to tell him her story from start to finish. Thankfully, he seemed to believe her.  
  
"Seishirou-san did?" he asked, when they reached the end of her tale, and the circumstances of her death.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"That's not like him. Anyone can see he's very fond of you."  
  
Hokuto fought off a choking fit. "I'm sorry," she wheezed when he gave her a worried look, "I just can't think of him that way."  
  
Subaru shrugged. "Well, I think this Seishirou-san is different to the one you knew. Even grandmother said he didn't appear to mean us any harm, despite being from the Sakurazuka clan."  
  
Hokuto remained thoughtfully silent.  
  
"And besides, look at us now. We'll soon be in the new century. 1990 is a long time past, Hokuto-chan, and we've knowsn Seishirou-san a lot longer than a single year."  
  
"The new century?!" exclaimed Hokuto. "But... what about 1999?"  
  
"1999? It's the year 2000, Hokuto-chan. 1999 has been and gone."  
  
"Eh? But... the end of the world... I don't understand."  
  
Subaru's expression grew solemn. "The decision was made, the battle was fought but none of us remember much about what happened, except that we were all alive at the end of it and humanity was allowed to continue." He shrugged. "We try not to think about it too often."  
  
"I see..." said Hokuto.  
  
He gave her a suspicious look. "You weren't supposed to know anything about 1999, you know."  
  
"Eep!" she said, giggling. At his look, she continued hurriedly, "I, er, used to listen in on your conversations with grandmother when you were first Head. I was concerned for you and all that. I remember all she would say on the topic was that it would be the judgement for humanity, and that the future was not yet decided."  
  
Subaru smiled, weakly. "Grandmother never was much into giving details back then."  
  
"Tell me," she said, curiously, "did you have to fight the Sakurazukamori?"  
  
Subaru frowned. "I believe so. I remember Seishirou-san wasn't too pleased when I said I couldn't tell him where the man had gone."  
  
Hokuto blinked. "Why?"  
  
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know that... His mother was murdered. Because of that, he wants to find the Sakurazukamori and kill him."  
  
Nice half-truth, Sei-chan, she thought admiringly. She had no doubt that Seishirou's mother had been the Sakurazukamori and that the reason Seishirou wanted to kill the new Sakurazukamori was in order to reclaim his ancestral position. "I see," she said again, frowning.   
  
Subaru got up to pay the bill at the counter, and together the two of them walked out on to the street.  
  
"Tell me," said Hokuto curiously, "is there anything else important I should know about the void I'm filling in this universe?"  
  
Subaru's forehead creased in thought. "Well, let's see... Our mother and father died in an accident when we were both very small. Grandmother doesn't like to talk about it, so I've never been sure exactly what happened. We lived in Kyoto with her until the year we were due to turn sixteen, when we moved to Tokyo. That was also the year we first met Seishirou-san. I ran into him at the train station while chasing some shikigami," he said, looking sheepish.  
  
Hokuto giggled. "I'll bet it was also the year you and Mitsuki-san first started dating," she said, teasingly.  
  
Subaru blushed bright red, but he nodded. "We got married in the year we both turned twenty. You were the "best man", at your own insistence. Hikaru was born in 1995 and named after Mitsuki's grandmother. Ryu was born in 1997 and named for the dragon constellation."  
  
Hokuto nodded. "Um... Do you know anything of what went on between Seishirou-san and I?"  
  
Subaru turned faintly pink again. "Um... I don't think you were in love, but... Well, you were definitely more than "just friends"."  
  
Hokuto tried to keep from blushing, but wasn't particularly successful. "That's... really weird." She felt almost guilty about it.  
  
"If you explain the situation to him, I'm sure he'll be accepting," said Subaru, in a comforting tone.  
  
Hokuto shook her head. "Is there any chance that I can get your Hokuto-chan back?"  
  
Her brother looked sorrowful. "Once a soul moves on it can't be brought back, Hokuto-chan. The Hokuto-chan from this world is gone, I'm afraid."  
  
"But... I was dead in my world, too," she protested, quietly.  
  
"But your soul hadn't moved on, had it?"  
  
/Pain. Terrible, relentless pain with no end in sight./  
  
"No..." she said, slowly. "It hadn't.  
  
Subaru squeezed her hand, gently.   
  
"It hurt a lot, Subaru. That's why I don't think I can ever trust him again. But I'm glad it was me he took, and not my brother." She gave the other Subaru a quick hug. "You should probably get back to work, shouldn't you?" she said.   
  
Subaru glanced at his watch and nodded. "I'm glad we had this talk, Hokuto-chan. And don't feel guilty - none of this is your fault." He smiled at her surprised look, and opened the car door. "Do you want a lift back to your place?"  
  
She shook her head. "I have some other things to do."   
  
He waved at her through the window as he pulled out of the parking lot.  
  
"Trust a twin brother to know my feelings better than I know them myself," she muttered, laughing.  
  
And now for the next thing on her agenda: clothes shopping!  
  
--  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
**FOOTNOTE: The dreamgazer of the Dragons of Earth**  
... was not Kakyou. It was, in fact, Kotori.   
Fuuma, upon becoming the dark Kamui, said kidnapped the slightly insane Kotori and locked her up to dream for his side. Unfortunately, even after 1999 was over and done with, her insanity was permanent.   
Thus, Kakyou has been locked up in his own little room for an awfully long time.  



	3. Day Three

**DAY THREE**  
  
"So, that's what's Subaru said," finished Hokuto the next morning, with a nod.  
  
Kakyou looked thoughtful. "He's probably right, although it's a pity he didn't know the spell that was used."  
  
"I think that kind of magic is against Sumeragi tradition." She shrugged. "I'm trying to figure out why people keep telling me I'm acting strangely, though. I mean, we were both Hokuto-chan, were we not?"  
  
"People's personalities are formed by a combination of things," said the dreamgazer. "They aren't born with a set personality - it's formed by environment, by the people around them and by the circumstances of their upbringing as well as their innate nature. You've always been somewhat over-protective of your brother, yes?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"This world's Hokuto-chan would probably have had the same attitude. But that particular part of both your personalities was moulded according to what your brother was like as a child."  
  
"I think I understand," said Hokuto, slowly. "It's because Sei-chan never met Subaru to make that stupid bet. I think that somewhere, deep inside, Subaru knew what those marks on his hands meant and he knew why he had to wear gloves to cover them. He always knew he was going to die young, so he grew up quiet and withdrawn. But since the bet was never made, he was allowed to grow up normally.  
  
"So, I didn't have to make up for his silence and that's why this world's Hokuto-chan had a different personality."  
  
Kakyou nodded seriously.  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"  
  
He had the grace to look slightly embarrassed.  
  
Sighing, for the second time in two days she related her life story, including the parts about Kakyou himself. "And that's why I want to get you out of here, Kakyou-san. Because I promised."  
  
He nodded again, although he didn't look like he really believed her. "Thank you."  
  
"Anyway, I still don't know why I'm here but in a way I'm sort of glad I am because I can make a difference here whereas in my world I couldn't, not really, because Sei-chan was an idiot and Subaru was too heartbroken to care and... I just wish I knew what was going on, that's all."  
  
"Hmm," he said, when she was done. "Why don't you go talk to your grandmother?"  
  
Hokuto blinked.  
  
"She knows about magic, doesn't she?" continued Kakyou. "She may be able to tell you what spell was used and what its effects are."  
  
"What difference can finding out what spell was used make?" muttered Hokuto. "I mean, I'm here, aren't I? That's not what I want to know."  
  
"I want to make sure you'll _still_ be here a year from now," said Kakyou solemnly. "If it's only a temporary spell, I'd like to know that so we can fix it permanently."  
  
She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then squealed and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "That's so sweet!"  
  
He blushed. "And besides, I don't know who he is. That's very strange."  
  
Hokuto blinked at him. "How so?"  
  
"Usually I know instantly the identity of people in my dreams. The way everyone does in dreams, you just _know_ things. But in my case these things are true."  
  
"But you don't know the identity of the man that killed my other self?"  
  
He shook his head. "It's just a complete blank."  
  
"What would cause that, do you think?"  
  
Kakyou shrugged. "Phenomenal psychic powers would be my guess. After all, he had to perform the spell to bring you here, didn't he?"  
  
She nodded thoughtfully. "I think I will see my grandmother," she announced. "I have lots to ask her."_  
_  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Hokuto spent most of the train journey to Kyoto planning what she was going to say to her grandmother. Should she confess to not being the "real" Hokuto-chan? Should she ask her questions by saying they were from an anonymous friend?  
  
As she got off the train at the Kyoto central station she realised she really should have phoned ahead. Still, when she got to the family home everyone was absolutely delighted to see her, and of course they didn't mind that she hadn't called, it was just so wonderful to have her in Kyoto...  
  
Eventually, she managed to pull her grandmother aside for a private conversation.  
  
As they knelt in one of the simple, yet functional rooms of the house, Hokuto found herself growing increasingly nervous. What if her grandmother told her she had to go back? She wouldn't know what to do...  
  
Her grandmother cleared her throat, causing Hokuto to look at her quizzically. "You are not Hokuto-chan."  
  
Hokuto stopped short. "I... I mean, I... You... How..."  
  
"A grandmother knows these things. Besides, everyone knows Hokuto-chan doesn't come to Kyoto. Ever."  
  
Hokuto deflated. "I see. Well, since you already know I'm not the 'real' Hokuto-chan, what I wanted to know was... Why am I here? Because I _am_ Hokuto-chan, I'm just not the Hokuto-chan that belongs in this universe."  
  
Her grandmother frowned. "You don't think this is your home universe, but you _are_ Sumeragi Hokuto?" she asked.  
  
She nodded. "I had a twin brother called Subaru too and he was the Clan Head. But... most of the other things were very different."  
  
Her grandmother's brow creased in thought. "There is... one spell..." she said, hesitantly.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"It's a spell forbidden to the Sumeragi Clan. It takes a soul from another universe and puts it in a living, but soulless body."   
  
"And it's irreversible?"  
  
A nod. "Once a soul moves on, it can not be brought back." She bowed her head in sorrow. "Our Hokuto-chan is dead."  
  
Hokuto averted her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said uncomfortably.  
  
"Don't be silly, child, it's not your fault," said her grandmother.   
  
"Who cast the spell?" asked Hokuto, eagerly.   
  
"That, I don't know. But I do know this - there are very few onmyouji in the world with the power to perform that spell, and of them far, far less than half would have the inclination."  
  
"I see," said Hokuto, remembering Kakyou's words about "phenomenal psychic power". She stood. "Thank you very much for your time," she said, bowing swiftly.  
  
"My pleasure. But won't you stay for a tea ceremony?"  
  
Hokuto hesitated. "I... I mean, well, I, that is, I..." She gave in. "Okay."  
  
Over tea, Hokuto found herself relating her life story. Again.  
  
When she finished, her grandmother looked thoughtful. "What do you think of this world's Sakurazuka Seishirou, then?"  
  
Hokuto hesitated. "I don't know, really... He seems nice enough, but then, so did our Seishirou-san... I don't trust him, though."  
  
"He's not the Sakurazukamori," said her grandmother, firmly. "I examined him thoroughly when the twins first mentioned they had met a Sakurazuka."  
  
"But...?" said Hokuto, sensing there was more.  
  
Her grandmother looked ponderous, as if she were having trouble forming her thoughts into words. "There are plenty that would want the Sakurazukamori dead, but Sakurazuka Seishirou is one of the few that could possibly achieve it."  
  
Hokuto gave her a worried look. "But, if he kills the Sakurazukamori he'll inherit the position... That's the way it works."  
  
Her grandmother paused halfway through lifting her cup to her lips. "You're sure?" Hokuto nodded. "Well. That changes things. Do you think he knows?"   
  
She nodded. "Given who he was in my universe, I'm almost positive he knows. That may even be part of the reason he wants to kill the Sakurazukamori."  
  
"You should stop him, if you can," said her grandmother, firmly.   
  
Hokuto nodded again. "I intend to."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
When Hokuto got home, she found a light blinking on her answering machine.   
  
"Sumeragi-san, this is just your weekly reminder that your column is due by 8pm tonight, for publication on Saturday," came an unfamiliar voice. "Please don't forget to e-mail it to us." The mechanical voice on the end of the message told her it had been received at 11 o'clock that morning.  
  
She blinked. Saturday was two days away, according to the calendar. And... column?  
  
Not knowing quite what else to do, she rang her brother.  
  
"Oh!" he said, when she'd finished relating the message. "Of course, you wouldn't know about that! My sister writes... well, wrote, really... a column for the Saturday paper."  
  
"I see... What was it about?"  
  
Subaru seemed a bit bewildered. "Well, whatever took her fancy, really. The computer should still be in the study, right? Your password is _ryousuke-sama_. She told me that in case she ever forgot. As if she would."  
  
"Okay," she said, writing it down. They chatted for a few minutes more, then she hung up and went into the study. After locating some of this Hokuto's old columns and reading them in order to figure out what kind of style she should be writing in, she opened a word processor and began to type. She told the story of a girl she met once, a foreigner but not a _gaijin_, a girl who had left her home country to work in Japan. "This is a dream I had once," she wrote at the end of her article, hating the lie but knowing it was necessary, "but it is also a true story."   
  
She titled the article simply "Smile", and posted it to the address she found in her outbox.  
  
--  
TO BE CONTINUED.   
Comments appreciated.  



	4. Day Four

**DAY FOUR**  
  
The next day, Hokuto decided it was high time she lived up to her promises. Unfortunately, this meant another train journey was in order.  
  
Her plan was simple enough - go to their door, make a few threats, see how they react. Mind, if there was anything she was learning about this world it was that nothing ever turned out the way she expected it to.  
  
As soon as she walked through the door she knew this was going to badly. The woman that appeared to be in charge was obviously a dedicated traditionalist and it wasn't going to be easy to convince her to let Kakyou go.  
  
"Who are you?" demanded the woman, "and what are you doing here?"  
  
Hokuto smiled sweetly at her. "My name is Sumeragi Hokuto. I want you to let Kakyou go."  
  
The woman stared at her. "I have no idea what you are talking about," she said, stiffly.  
  
"Kakyou," repeated Hokuto, "you know, the pretty dreamgazer you keep locked upstairs. I want you to let him go."  
  
"I'm afraid I can't do that," said the woman, apparently giving up the pretence of ignorance. "His dreams are far too important to us."  
  
Hokuto glared at her. "Fine. I'll make you a deal. Let him go willingly and I'll let him continue 'working' for you, but only if you pay him at least the minimum wage for skilled work."  
  
"And if I refuse?"  
  
Hokuto smiled again. "Well, you know. I hate having to make threats, but I'm a journalist, and my brother is the Sumeragi head, and together I think we could probably make your lives pretty miserable. Ne?"  
  
When the woman showed her into Kakyou's room, the dreamgazer was understandably surprised to see her. "Hokuto-chan...?" he said, hesitantly.  
  
"_Ohayou,_" she said with a grin. "_Hajimemashite_." [1]  
  
He shook her hand solemnly.  
  
The woman looked like she planned on continuing to lurk in the doorway indefinitely, so Hokuto glared at her until she departed, closing the door behind her. When she heard the footsteps heading down the stairs, she explained the results of her 'negotiation' to Kakyou.  
  
He looked somewhat pleased, but also vaguely worried. "I don't know about accepting money for using my powers, though," he said, quietly. "It doesn't seem right."  
  
"Oh, don't be ridiculous. They've been using you for most of your life, they probably owe you heaps of money. Besides, since they've taken away most of your employment opportunities by keeping you so isolated, it's the least we can make them do."  
  
Kakyou nodded obediently. "So, um, where are we going?"  
  
"My apartment. I'll help you pack, we're leaving as soon as possible."  
  
He nodded again. "Thank you."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Subaru rang that afternoon, asking if he could spend the night at her apartment as he was going to be in the city late with work. "It's so strange," he confessed, when she asked if this happened often, "having you around but not really having you around, if you know what I mean."  
  
"I assure you, it's even stranger for me," said Hokuto, dryly.  
  
He laughed. "Anyway, it's a pain having to work so far from home, but I wouldn't give up our place for anything."  
  
"I understand," she said, "but you'll probably have to sleep on the floor. I have a guest in the spare room."  
  
"Oh?" said her brother, sounding surprised. "Who?"  
  
"Kakyou. He's a dreamgazer. You probably don't know him."  
  
"The only dreamgazers I know of are Hinoto and Kotori-chan," he said apologetically.  
  
"It's okay. He _has_ been locked up most of his life, after all."  
  
"Really?" said Subaru. "That's horrible."  
  
"Thus why he's staying with me," she said, triumphantly. "I managed to get him out of that place and make them pay him a salary, too."  
  
Subaru laughed. "Congratulations."  
  
"Who were you talking to?" asked Kakyou, when she finally hung up the phone.  
  
"Subaru, my brother. You'll probably meet him tonight. He's spending the night here, only he'll probably have to sleep on the floor since I don't have a spare room any more, but he says that's fine so it's all okay."  
  
"Oh." Kakyou took a moment to process this. "Is he nice?"  
  
"Subaru," she said, with a proud smile, "is one of the nicest people in the world."  
  
He gave her a doubtful look.  
  
"Believe me. Well, my Subaru was, and this Subaru isn't all that different, aside from being a little less mouse-like and with a better sense of humour, but he's still a truly amazingly nice person."  
  
Kakyou nodded, thoughtfully.  
  
She regarded him critically. "Do you have any other clothes?"  
  
The dreamgazer looked down at his robes. "No...?" he ventured.  
  
"Well then. Now I know what we'll be doing for the rest of the afternoon." She began running through potential colours and outfits in her mind. She'd never dressed a blond before. "Have you ever thought about cutting your hair?"  
  
He put a hand to his hair protectively. "I like it long."  
  
"But short hair is so much cuter!" she protested, laughing.  
  
Kakyou shook his head firmly. "No."  
  
"Well, at least get it trimmed a bit, okay? I know some nice long styles too."  
  
"That's nice," he said, faintly.  
  
"Well, come on then!" she poked him in the shoulder, lightly. She'd made the mistake of checking out her bank balance. The other Hokuto had obviously been saving for something, but since this Hokuto couldn't think of anything she wanted to do, other than visit the beach with Kakyou, she figured a little shopping couldn't hurt. "We'll take a taxi to the central shopping district. There should be plenty of choice there."  
  
She had already decided that pastels were right out, and she'd have to be very careful with dark colours. Red and orange would look horrible, yellows were definitely out, which basically left her with greens, blues and purples. Whites, creams and blacks... They could work, if she was careful about it. That was fine. She could work with that.  
  
As for the clothing itself, she was mostly thinking of simple, casual things. Jeans, shirts, that sort of thing. Maybe a long coat - it would be winter before too long.   
  
First on the agenda, however, was the haircut. Once she'd managed to talk Kakyou and the hair dresser into a nice style that wasn't too long but would still tie back neatly and wouldn't tangle as soon as he'd been outside for more than five minutes, it was simply a matter of waiting. Then, the mall.  
  
By the end of it all, the dreamgazer was looking a little overwhelmed, but he had a perfectly functional wardrobe. Hokuto felt very proud.  
  
Finally, she dropped by a supermarket to get some supplies for the evening meal. Once they were back at her apartment she made Kakyou get changed and model all his new clothes, while she cheerfully began unwrapping and chopping vegetables.  
  
Somewhat unexpectedly, when she was halfway done, Seishirou dropped by. Even more unexpectedly, he came armed with a bunch of roses. Ever the gracious host, she accepted the roses and invited him to stay for dinner.  
  
Seishirou seemed a little put-out to see Kakyou there. Once she was done with the introductions, she retreated back to the kitchen and idly eavesdropped on their conversation. It mostly seemed to revolve around Kakyou's powers and what he was doing in Hokuto's apartment.  
  
If she didn't know better, she would have sworn Seishirou was a little... jealous?  
  
"I'm sorry for things being a little weird," she said, as she served dinner. "I'm still not feeling quite myself." She hoped that would be adequate explanation for the way she found herself twitching away whenever he made as if to touch her.  
  
"So I've noticed," he said, dryly. "You forgot our dinner and movie date."  
  
She felt herself flush bright red. "I... I mean, I... That is to say, I... I'm so sorry!" she said, almost knocking over the table in her hurry to bow her apology.  
  
He gave her a smile that almost seemed sad, in an odd way. "It's okay."  
  
The rest of the meal passed in uncomfortable silence.  
  
Seishirou left not long after dinner, leaving her alone with Kakyou. The dreamgazer gave her a concerned look. "You don't like him very much, do you?"  
  
"It's not that," she said, wringing her hands. "His counterpart in my universe did some pretty horrible things, that's all. I don't quite trust him."  
  
Kakyou nodded and didn't pry, for which she was grateful.   
  
Her gaze fell to the bunch of flowers she had placed in a vase before dinner. It was odd, that. Why would Seishirou be bringing her flowers?  
  
It wasn't long before Kakyou excused himself, saying he was feeling unusually tired and would she mind if he slept early tonight?  
  
She shook her head distractedly. "Of course not. You've had a long day."  
  
He nodded, and retreated to the spare room.  
  
When her brother let himself in later that evening she was still awake. "Subaru?" she said, walking out to greet him. "I think you were wrong. I think Seishirou was in love with Hokuto-chan."  
  
--  
TO BE CONTINUED.   
Comments appreciated.  
  
**FOOTNOTE(S)**  
1. _Ohayou_ means "good morning", approximately. _Hajimemashite_ is what you say to a person the first time you meet. Hokuto is insane, don't blame me. 


	5. Day Five

**DAY FIVE  
**  
The next morning, Hokuto discovered exactly what it was like to cook for three. At least the chorus of "delicious" was worth it.  
  
"I just don't know what to do!" she said, when Subaru asked her why she was looking so down. "I mean, we had a date yesterday and I didn't have a clue! Do you have any idea how awful that makes me feel?"  
  
"I've had to break dates with Mitsuki because of work many times." Subaru's finger traced patterns on the table. "It's not the same thing at all, really, but I know what it is to feel guilty for something you can't help."  
  
"Maybe you should try talking to him?" suggested Kakyou, quietly.  
  
She shook her head. "I mean, sure, it'd make everything so much easier... But, I'm scared of what he'd do if he found out. And... I don't want to have to tell him that he killed me."  
  
The room fell silent.  
  
"I think I can understand that," said Subaru, after a moment.  
  
"And I'd have to, because I'd have to explain why I... Well. I can't talk to him about it. So I'm stuck."  
  
She was disturbed from further deliberations by the telephone ringing. Giving her two guests an apologetic look, she ran to pick it up. "Moshi moshi?"  
  
"Oh, Hokuto-chan! I'm glad you picked up. Ne, Subaru said you were having memory problems. Are you okay?"  
  
Hokuto blinked. "I'm fine, really. Why?"  
  
"Well, I was reading today's paper and there's that story about the girls... It's horrible. And I thought I'd better check up on you."  
  
Hokuto scrabbled around for the paper that had been delivered to her door that morning. "I see," she said, flipping through pages. "Well, I'll be careful, and thanks for your concern. Did you want to speak to Subaru?"  
  
"Well, if he's there..." Subaru's wife sounded a little bemused.  
  
Hokuto handed over the phone, and sat down at the table to examine the paper. "Akari Asuka, who had been complaining of memory loss, was found dead in her room last night. This has been the third such death in as many days," she read out loud, when she found the article. "No wonder Mitsuki was worried."  
  
Kakyou looked at the paper over her shoulder. "I know that name," he commented, sounding puzzled.  
  
"Really? How?"  
  
He frowned in concentration, then shook his head. "I can't remember. She was probably in a dream I had once."  
  
"Hmm..." said Hokuto. "Oh, by the way, how do you feel about going to beach today?"  
  
"The beach?" said Kakyou, blinking. "What, just you and I?"  
  
"Well... Subaru!" she said, as her brother walked back into the room. "Do you have a job today?" He shook his head. "Does Mitsuki-san work?"  
  
"She helps out at a women's call in centre, but she doesn't work on Saturdays. Why?"  
  
"How would you and the kids feel about coming to the beach, then?" asked Hokuto, bouncing lightly on her toes.  
  
"I'm sure they'd love it," he said, smiling. "Why, were you planning on going?"  
  
She nodded. "Today, if possible. Kakyou's never been."  
  
The dreamgazer looked embarrassed.  
  
"Did you hang up already?" she asked, glancing at the phone in his hand.  
  
"No, actually, Mitsuki wanted to know if you two wanted to come to dinner some night."  
  
"Of course!" she exclaimed. "Ne, Kakyou?"  
  
Kakyou nodded again, although his eyes were starting to look a little glazed over.  
  
"Excellent. I'll tell her. Want to make it tonight? We can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak."  
  
"Are you sure that would be okay?" she asked, nervously. "I mean, it's awfully short notice."  
  
"Well, let me ask." Subaru wandered back into the kitchen to continue his phone conversation. He returned moments later. "She says the beach is fine, but dinner will have to wait for another day. Ryu's safety seat fits in the back, so we can all travel together. If that's okay."  
  
Hokuto nodded. "I hadn't even thought about how we were going to get there," she confessed, sheepishly.  
  
"It did seem awfully spontaneous," her brother agreed. "But it's fine to get a lift with us. Well, assuming you don't mind leaving very soon."  
  
Hokuto leaped to her feet. "I'll get packed right away. Kakyou, you'll need to pack a bathing costume and a beach towel. I can find the rest of the stuff."  
  
"You know, my Hokuto hated the beach," Subaru called after her. "I could never convince her to come with us."  
  
"She must have been insane," Hokuto retorted. "I love the beach. And your children are adorable."  
  
Packing didn't take that long and soon enough the three of them were on their way to Subaru and Mitsuki's house.  
  
When they arrived they found themselves in the midst of an argument. Hikaru was insisting she got to sit in the very back because she was bigger, whereas Ryu said he got to sit there because it was his car seat. Hokuto took one look at them and announced that whoever sat there on the way to the beach would have to swap on the way back.  
  
Mitsuki was in the kitchen making lunches and gave Hokuto a thankful look when Hokuto joined her. "I was just about to tell them that myself."  
  
Hokuto laughed. "They're great kids. Here, want me to help?"  
  
Mitsuki gratefully handed her a bento box to fill. "So what's wrong, anyway?" she asked, curiously. "Subaru wasn't very clear on that."  
  
"Well," said Hokuto hesitantly, "it's very strange. I was in a car accident or something and all of a sudden I can't remember anything that's happened since I was sixteen." It seemed the safest lie, and the one closest to the truth.  
  
"That's horrible, Hokuto-chan!" exclaimed Mitsuki. "Did you go to a doctor about it?"  
  
She shook her head. "I'm fine, really. Well, aside from the memory thing."  
  
Mitsuki gave her a stern look. "Subaru never wants to see the doctor either. I'll let you off this time, but if it gets any worse you're seeing the doctor straight away."  
  
Hokuto nodded meekly.  
  
"Good, I'm glad that's settled. So, I guess this explains your outburst the other day."  
  
Hokuto found herself blushing. "Actually, I wanted to apologise about that."  
  
Mitsuki waved it away with her hand. "It's fine. I suppose it's only natural you'd be a bit suspicious of me at sixteen. It was a horrible thing to say, even if I didn't mean it." Mitsuki snapped the lid on the last box triumphantly. "There we go. All done. This was a good idea of yours, Hokuto-chan. We haven't been to the beach once this summer."  
  
"Spontaneity is an under-appreciated art," said Hokuto solemnly, before bursting into giggles.  
  
The two of them wandered back into the lounge room to find Kakyou being interrogated by two curious children. The dreamgazer looked a little panicky.  
  
"Children, please," said Mitsuki, in an exasperated tone. "Let the poor man breathe."  
  
Hikaru pouted, but stopped asking questions and settled for just staring at the dreamgazer intently.  
  
Hokuto giggled and introduced Mitsuki and Kakyou to each other. Before the situation could grow uncomfortable, Subaru walked inside to tell them the car was all ready. As soon as the children were settled, they were on their way.   
  
Kakyou and Hokuto found themselves on the backseat with the overly energetic Hikaru between them. Subaru's daughter babbled cheerfully and relentlessly about whatever took her fancy, whether it be what she did at school the other day or what she'd just seen out the window.  
  
"She reminds me of me when I was little," said Hokuto to Kakyou when the little girl turned her attention to the front of the car for a change.  
  
"I pity whoever had to look after you," Kakyou murmured back.  
  
By the time they reached the beach, Hokuto was beginning to agree with him. She was only too glad too get out of the car and let the child loose on the unsuspecting beach-goers. Mitsuki's first move was to dash after the five-year-old and give her strict instruction on what was appropriate and safe behaviour for the beach. Her second was to insist the entire party put sunlotion on.  
  
Hokuto's first stop was the changerooms. She'd bought a nice new bikini the other day and was dying to try it out. Kakyou was sitting on a beach towel in his own bathing costume, looking somewhat embarrassed, when she finally emerged.  
  
She pirouetted and asked him what he thought but received only a blush in reply. "Mou, Kyou-chan, haven't you ever seen a girl in a bikini before?" The dreamgazer continued to blush. "Anyway," continued Hokuto, "aren't you going to come into the water?"  
  
"Anou, Hokuto-chan, I can't swim."  
  
She paused. "Of course you can't. Well, I'll show you. It's not that hard. Come on." She took his hand and tugged until he got up and followed her to where the gentle waves were breaking on the sand.  
  
"It's cold," he said, as the water touched his feet.  
  
"It gets better. I find the best thing is to just get wet all over right at the start, then it doesn't seem so bad." [1]  
  
Kakyou shivered involuntarily.  
  
"Besides, the first thing when it comes to swimming is floating and you have to get all wet for that," she continued, matter of fact. "Come on, we'll go out a bit deeper."  
  
Kakyou turned out to be a quick learner and an attentive student. Before too long he was swimming quite confidently, if not particularly skillfully.  
  
When they returned to where Mitsuki was sitting, watching the children (who had graduated from splashing in the water and were now making sand sculptures), Hokuto noticed a conspicuous absence. "Mitsuki," she asked, puzzled, "where is Subaru?"  
  
"His pager beeped, so he's gone to take the call," Mitsuki explained, with a long-suffering air. "He'll probably be back soon."  
  
Hokuto nodded, and looked down at Kakyou, who appeared to be dozing on one of their beach towels. "Ne, sleepy-head, what are you doing?" She poked his side lightly with her toe.  
  
"I'm tired," he muttered, in that tone which meant he hoped she'd just leave him alone.   
  
"You'll get burnt if you lie out in the sun like this. You need to put some more sunscreen on." Kakyou continued to ignore her. "Well, if you're not going to do it yourself I guess I'll have to do it for you..." she said, in a teasing tone.  
  
He sat up abruptly, blushing very red, and took the bottle from her hands. "It's fine, thank you," he said, primly.  
  
"Now you can help us build a sand fortress!" said Hikaru, popping up beside them and bouncing excitedly.  
  
Kakyou looked doubtful. "I don't think..."  
  
"No, no it's a great idea. You can't come to the beach and not make a sand sculpture, Kyou-chan. Come on." She tugged on his hand again until he got up and followed them to the water's edge.  
  
By the time the afternoon was beginning to look a bit tired, they'd constructed the biggest "sand fortress" on the beach. Hikaru was enthusiastically decorating it with shells and pieces of seaweed while Ryu carefully dripped wet sand onto the towers.   
  
When she saw Subaru walking back to the beach, Hokuto got up to greet him curiously.   
  
"I have a new case," he explained to his wife. Subaru turned to Hokuto. "It's the one from the newspaper this morning, about the girls with memory loss."  
  
Mitsuki looked worried. "Do you need to leave now?"  
  
Subaru shook his head. "They can't fax me the information until tomorrow morning."  
  
"Eh?" exclaimed Hokuto. "But what if someone else dies overnight?!"  
  
Subaru sighed. "You and I know that one night could mean the death of another person, but the people in charge either don't know or don't care. I told them to put a full police watch on any people that had complained of inexplicable memory loss."  
  
Hokuto nodded. "I just hope they obey you."   
  
"Ne, ne, daddy, come and look at our sand fortress, please?" Hikaru interrupted, tugging on her father's shirt.  
  
Subaru glanced over to where Ryu was still working with his wet sand. "It certainly is big," he said, smiling. He scooped his daughter up and sat her on his shoulders and walked over with Hokuto and Mitsuki. "How would you all feel about getting a takeaway dinner?"  
  
He was met with a chorus of enthusiastic affirmitives.  
  
When they were all settled again with food on their laps, Kakyou pulled Hokuto aside.  
  
"I remember," he said, urgently. "I know where I knew the girl from."  
  
"Where?" she asked, keeping her voice down.  
  
"She was in the dream where you died. She saw it happen."  
  
Hokuto gasped, softly. "I think we should tell Subaru."  
  
Kakyou nodded his head in agreement.  
  
--  
TO BE CONTINUED.  
  
**FOOTNOTE(S)**  
1. *shudders* I don't agree with Hokuto here. I'm all for immersing oneself in the water slowly.  
  



	6. Day Six

**DAY SIX**  
  
Hokuto was awoken the next morning by a tentative knock on her bedroom door. "Anou, Hokuto-chan," came Kakyou's quiet voice. "There's someone at the door."  
  
Blinking, she got up and into something decent before unlocking her apartment door. "Subaru?" she said, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Wordlessly, he handed her a sheet of paper. "I got this fax this morning."  
  
Still sleep-addled, she invited him in before settling down to read the fax.  
  
_Sumeragi-san_, the fax began. _We assigned guards to the people you mentioned. However, it was not enough to prevent the death of another victim. _It went on to detail the name of the victim, along with those of the men that had died protecting her. There was an autopsy report attached.  
  
_Death was caused by the insertion of some object, possibly a human hand, through the rib cage and piercing the heart._  
  
// _The sickening squelch as flesh and bone parted.  
  
There was no signs of a struggle._  
  
_// Terrible, heart-rending pain even as she used her own lifeblood to cast her final spell._  
  
Hoktuo ran to the bathroom and was violently ill.  
  
A few minutes later, she was aware of her brother kneeling behind her, gently rubbing circles on her back.   
  
"Hokuto-chan, are you okay?" said Kakyou tentatively, from somewhere in the vicinity of the doorway.   
  
She coughed sorely. "Not really. Maybe. I will be, just give me a minute."  
  
Once they were all in the kitchen with soothing green tea and she could think again, she turned to her brother. "Subaru," she began, "it wasn't your fault."  
  
He stared at her. "But it was!" he protested, miserably. "I told them to assign the guards!"  
  
"How were you to know seven armed men wouldn't be enough to hold off this psychopath?" she asked, rhetorically. "Even after reading that, I can hardly believe it."  
  
"It's onmyoujitsu," said Subaru, in a subdued tone. "It has to be."  
  
"Oh," said Hokuto. "That's... oh. How horrible."  
  
Subaru slumped down onto his crossed arms. "I just don't know what to do... And with Kakyou's dream, that just makes it so much more complicated..." He blinked a bit, then sat up. "Kakyou-san," said Subaru, hesitantly. "Can you remember the names of any of the other people in your dream?"  
  
Kakyou closed his eyes in thought. When he opened them again, he shook his head apologetically. "Not like that, no."  
  
Subaru drummed his fingers on the table, thoughtfully. "How about if I gave you a list of names?"  
  
The dreamgazer frowned. "I probably could. Do you have a list?"  
  
Subaru shook his head. "But I could get a list from the police. Ever since the murders started, people have been really paranoid."  
  
"There weren't that many in the dream," said Kakyou, slowly. "Less than ten. I'd say probably even less than 7."  
  
"I want to get anyone we can identify out of the city. If I go with them I can ensure that nobody is watching, even an onmyouji, and I can place wards around their place of accommodation to deter anybody trying to enter."  
  
"Couldn't you just ward their own house?" asked Hokuto, interested.  
  
"I could," said Subaru, "but it wouldn't be as effective, particularly if the murderer already knows where they live. Wards are practically useless when you _let _people in, and there are always ways to trick a person into letting you enter. But in a strange place, people are more likely to be paranoid."  
  
"I see," said Hokuto. "What if somebody breaks your wards?"  
  
"Well," said Subaru, with a small smile, "first they'd have to find my wards. But don't worry, I'll be using protection magic, too."  
  
Hokuto nodded. "If if I can hold off a raging demon dog spirit, you can hold off anything!" she added, with a grin.  
  
Subaru laughed, although he looked a little puzzled. "May I use the office phone?"  
  
"I have an office phone?" said Hokuto, blinking.  
  
Subaru hid a smile. "Yes, you do. It has a fax machine attached and you dial in to the internet with it."  
  
"Oh. Well, sure, go for it."  
  
Subaru disappeared into the office, Kakyou following.  
  
"Do you want breakfast?" Hokuto called after them. "I was going to start cooking some rice."  
  
There was an affirmative murmur in response.  
  
Hokuto rolled her eyes and started the rice cooker. She located the miso in the pantry and began cooking with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. She knew her brother well enough that he wasn't going to just stop feeling guilty about what had happened. She began mentally plotting her line of attack.  
  
When the phone rang it was almost a relief, although it meant she came perilously close to dropping the phone in a pot of boiling water when she realised it was her grandmother on the other end.  
  
Once Hokuto was done making exclamations of surprise, her grandmother began to speak again. "I called Subaru's house but Mitsuki-san said he was here, so I called here," she explained. "I heard what happened last night and I was somewhat concerned."  
  
"He's not happy about it," said Hokuto, honestly.   
  
"What's he doing now?"  
  
"He and Kakyou-san are making a list of probable victims and Subaru plans on evacuating them to a safe place in the country."  
  
"I see. Kakyou-san is...?"  
  
"Kuzuki Kakyou. He's--"  
  
"A dreamgazer?"  
  
Dumbstruck, Hokuto nodded. Then, realising her grandmother couldn't see her, she confirmed it verbally.  
  
"I remember the boy. He was having dreams that were coming true and his parents called me to see what was causing it. Once I realised what he was, I told them what was going on and how to best treat him. Barely a week after that he disappeared."  
  
"Disappeared?" said Hokuto, surprised. "How?"  
  
"The official story was that the boy had been kidnapped, but no ransom was ever sent. Unofficial speculation was that the senator had had the boy put away because he was mentally unstable and didn't want it to damage his reputation. I knew better than that, of course, but I couldn't ever find out what had happened to the boy."  
  
"I met Kakyou-san a few days ago," said Hokuto, slowly. "He'd been locked in one room for as long as he could remember, so I made them let him go."  
  
"That wasn't what I told them to do, you realise, Hokuto-chan. But, they let him go? Just like that?"  
  
"Well..." said Hokuto, hesitantly. "I had to threaten them a bit. But I got them to pay him a salary in return for his continued services."   
  
"I see." She could practically _see_ her grandmother trying not to smile. "Well done."  
  
"And he thinks he had a dream where he saw all the victims of this killer, so he's currently trying to identify them from a list of Subaru's."  
  
"And you?"  
  
"I'm cooking breakfast." She glanced at the stove, and dashed over to turn it off. "Which is currently overboiling."  
  
"Hokuto-chan..." said her grandmother, with a tone of extreme patience. "Why don't you attend to that, and let me talk to Subaru?"  
  
Hokuto obediently carried the phone to her brother and returned to salvaging what she could of the miso soup.  
  
Eventually it was all ready, and she arranged it neatly on a tray and carried it into the study. "Where did you get this list of names, anyway?" she asked her brother.  
  
"These are all the people that have reported memory loss to the police in the past few days, as a result of the media coverage of this case."  
  
She looked at the list. "There's quite a few."  
  
"These are the ones Kakyou knows from his dream," continued Subaru, indicating a few names highlighted in yellow. "I think the person that did this is trying to cover up something these people saw, probably your death. If he's an onmyouji, he probably tried to cover it up by using a memory spell, but he must be worried that it won't last."  
  
_Onmyoujitsu... Pierced heart... Memory loss_.  
  
"Oh, _God_."  
  
"What?" asked her brother.  
  
"It must be... no, I can't say. It can't be... But... _We can't tell Seishirou_."  
  
Her brother and Kakyou blinked.  
  
"What, that the killer is covering for a memory spell? That he is an onmyouji? I don't understand, Hokuto-chan."  
  
She shook her head. "Just... _don't_, even if he asks. Seishirou can't know!"  
  
"Seishirou can't know what?" came a heart-stoppingly familiar voice.  
  
Hokuto jumped. "What are you doing here?!" she shrieked. "How did you get in?!"  
  
Seishirou looked a little taken-aback. "I knocked, but nobody answered. The door was unlocked. I came in. Now, what can't I know?"  
  
"It's a surprise," she said, quickly. "Don't worry about it."  
  
He didn't look like he believed her, but didn't press the point.  
  
"What are you here for anyway, Seishirou-san?" Hokuto asked.  
  
"Well, I came by yesterday but nobody was home. I was worried about you, since you seemed so out of sorts the other day."  
  
"Oh." Hokuto's finger traced patterns on the table. "We were at the beach yesterday."  
  
"The beach?" he said, looking surprised. "But, Hokuto-chan, you hate the beach!"  
  
"It was a spur of the moment decision," interceded Subaru. "She didn't have a chance to say no." He smiled at his sister fondly. "But you had a good time anyway, right?"  
  
Hokuto nodded. "Your children are _so cute_," she said, giggling. "Would you like some breakfast, Seishirou-san?" It couldn't hurt her to keep up appearances, surely. Not when there was so much at stake.  
  
"No, no, I've aleady eaten," he said, apologetically.  
  
"Oh," said Hokuto. The room fell silent.  
  
"It's almost lunchtime, Hokuto-chan," continued Seishirou gently, after a bit.   
  
Hokuto blinked at the clock. "Oh."  
  
Subaru finished his rice, said his thanks and stood up. "I think I'd better get moving on this," he said, folding up the list of names and stuffing it in the pocket of his trenchcoat as he shrugged it on. "Thank you very much for your help, Kuzuki-san," he added, formally.  
  
"Oh, you've been helping Subaru-san with a case, Kuzuki-san?" asked Seishirou, curiously.  
  
Kakyou blinked, obviously uncertain of what to say.   
  
Subaru leapt to the rescue again. "It's the murders that have been on the news recently, you've probably heard of it."   
  
"Ah, yes. The so-called 'memory murders'. Why did they put you on the case, Subaru-san?"  
  
"Who knows?" said Subaru, rhetorically. "Anyway, I'd better get moving."  
  
Hokuto nodded, and gave him a quick hug. "Good luck, and be careful."  
  
"Aren't I always?" he said, smiling.  
  
Subaru departed, but the tension in the room did not.  
  
Seishirou continued to look at Kakyou with a ponderous expression. "I remember the case about senator Kuzuki's son going missing. It was all over the news when I was seven. So what really did happen? Since you're obviously alive and well."  
  
"I'm afraid that's confidential information, Sakurazuka-san," said Kakyou, primly.  
  
Silence fell again.  
  
"Ne," began Hokuto, uncomfortably. "Why don't we watch a movie or something?"  
  
The two males blinked at her.  
  
"Well, we're not accomplishing anything sitting here in silence, are we?" she said, defensively. She was currently trying to convince herself that this Seishirou wasn't such a bad person and she had to at least try to get to know him.   
  
Hokuto walked over to the television and switched it on. After channel hopping a bit, she found something she liked. "Look!" she said, all excitement. "It's Godzilla vs. Gamera!"  
  
Kakyou and Seishirou stared at her.  
  
"What?!" she said, indignantly. "Don't you two have any patriotism? Kaijuu movies are a very important part of Japanese film-making!"  
  
"I try to avoid them," said Seishirou.  
  
"I've never seen one," added Kakyou, turning slightly pink.  
  
"Well then. We're watching this one."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Sit! You'll have a good time, I promise. Well, just so long as you don't try to take it seriously."  
  
And, much to their apparent surprise, they all had a really good time. Hokuto taught Kakyou how to cook popcorn in a saucepan, to Seishirou's visible amusement.  
  
Subaru rang in late afternoon to apologise and request to stay another night at Hokuto's, at which point Seishirou offered to cook dinner.  
  
He turned out to be a very good cook, much to Hokuto's relief.  
  
By the time Seishirou left, Hokuto was feeling a lot more comfortable around him. Overall, she thought, he wasn't a bad person at all.  
  
She fell asleep pondering the logistics of a friendship with a man who had, in another universe, killed her - but in this universe appeared to be in love with her.  
  


~ * ~  


  
Hokuto was somewhat rudely awakened by a soft knocking on her door. "Come in," she murmured, without really thinking about it.  
  
"Hokuto-chan?" came a hesitant voice.   
  
"Kyou-chan?" she asked, sitting up. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I know when the next murder will be."  
  
In the kitchen, the clock chimed midnight.  
  
--  
Comments appreciated. 


	7. Day Seven

**DAY SEVEN**  
  
Hokuto stared at the dreamgazer for a few seconds, then leapt out of bed. "When?" she asked, hunting around for a dressing gown and ignoring Kakyou's furious blush.  
  
"A few hours," he said, still blushing. "I know the girl's name, but I don't have an address..."  
  
"I'll wake Subaru."  
  
Several minutes later, they were all at the table holding a council of war. At least, that was how it felt.  
  
"So, what are we going to do?" asked Subaru. "I can't find the girl without at least an image to work from, preferably some part of her. Shiki can't find anyone with just a name. And without the address, we have no hope of getting to her in time."  
  
"Can't you contact the police for information? They'd have names and addresses of everybody in the city, surely!" said Hokuto.  
  
"No, I'd never get clearance that quickly," said Subaru, frowning.  
  
"You could hack into their systems?" suggested Kakyou, as if it were perfectly logical.  
  
Hokuto resolved to have a small talk with the dreamgazer about morals and invasion of privacy.  
  
"I can't do that!" protested Subaru, but then he snapped his fingers and picked up the phone. "However, I know somebody who can."  
  
"Hi, Imonoyama-san? It's Sumeragi Subaru ... Yes, I do know what time it is, but this is important. It's for the sake of a lady ... No, I don't need you to come here, I just need you to find me an address. Her name is Mihari Suzuka ... I'm at my sister's, you can fax the information here so we can check." He listed the number, and wandered into the office, Hokuto and Kakyou trailing behind.  
  
A few minutes later, the fax came through. Subaru glanced at it and then passed it to Kakyou, who nodded. "Yes, that's it," said Subaru, into the phone. "Thank you very much, Nokoru-san."  
  
Hokuto hid a smile. "Nokoru Imonoyama-san? My, aren't we high class!" Nokoru had been the class president in her world, but he was also the youngest son of one of Japan's wealthiest - and most influential - families. "At least you know which buttons to press."  
  
"We were in high school together," said Subaru, distractedly. "Nokoru-san has a soft spot for damsels in distress." [1]  
  
Hokuto glanced over Kakyou's shoulder at the fax. "That address is on the other side of the city!" she exclaimed.   
  
Subaru nodded. "We'd better get moving."  
  
Kakyou nodded. "I'll stay here, and if I See anything else I'll ring you, okay?"   
  
Hokuto nodded and scribbled her mobile number down on a piece of paper, once she'd asked Subaru what it was.  
  
"So... what are you going to do, exactly?" asked Kakyou, curiously.  
  
Hokuto paused in her dash to the bedroom (in order to get changed, since even an urgent rescue mission couldn't justify her staying in her pyjamas). "Get her out of there, of course!"  
  
"Will you be okay if... You know. Someone tries to hurt you."  
  
"Mo~u! Of course! And I'll have Subaru here to protect me," protested Hokuto, rummaging around in her drawers for something decent to wear.  
  
"Nokoru-san and Suoh-san too, probably," said Subaru, wearily. "I don't think I succeeded in discouraging Nokoru-san at all."  
  
"Well, more people can't hurt," Hokuto called from her bedroom. "And Suoh-san, at least, knows what he's doing in a fight. At least, the Suoh-san I knew did." The Takamura Suoh she remembered had been a rather talented young ninja, as a matter of fact.  
  
She emerged from her room dressed in a simple black catsuit. "Right. Are we ready?"  
  
Subaru nodded.  
  


~ * ~  


  
Forty-five minutes later, they arrived at the address in question. It turned out to be a ground floor unit in a small block. The other units in the block were lifeless and dark, but the one they wanted definitely had lights on.  
  
"I think Nokuro-san-tachi are already here," said Subaru, glancing at the car parked inconspicuously to the side. [2]  
  
Hokuto nodded. They approached the house cautiously.   
  
Suddenly, Subaru stiffened.  
  
"What is it?" asked Hokuto, in a small voice.  
  
"Sakurazukamori." He dashed for the door.  
  
Swearing, Hokuto followed.  
  
Subaru's first act, once inside, was to throw up wards to prevent the struggle within from attracting anybody else's attention. His second was to attract the attention of the assassin, who was currently struggling with a certain blue-haired ninja. The intended victim, a small blonde with a dazed expression, was curled up in the corner of the room with a battered teddy bear clutched to her chest.  
  
"You take care of the girl!" he told the rest of the people in the room. "I can handle this."  
  
Nokoru, Akira and Hokuto obediently ushered the frightened girl out of the room, although Suoh remained behind.  
  
"Um... How did you get into the house?" asked the girl, in a small voice.  
  
The two young men regarded each other uncomfortably, but said nothing. However, Akira blushed. [3]  
  
"We're here to help," said Hokuto. "Where are your parents?"  
  
"Out," said the girl. "They're staying at my aunt's for a week and let me look after the house all on my own and I'm so proud they've never let me do that before and..." She was babbling, obviously in shock.  
  
"Ssh," said Hokuto, placing her hand to the girl's forehead and working a small sleep spell. "It's okay." The girl slumped into her arms, out like a light. "Will you two take her away somewhere?" she asked Nokoru and Akira, quietly. "Somewhere secure."  
  
"I'll take her to CLAMP Campus," promised Nokoru. He gathered her in his arms and headed out to the car, Akira trailing behind. Hokuto headed back to the bedroom, worried about her brother.  
  
Someone brushed past her roughly.  
  
"Hey!" she yelled, without thinking. Then she got a closer look and ran to catch the man before he opened the bedroom door. "Seishirou! What are you doing here?" Hokuto demanded an answer.  
  
"It's none of your business," he said, stiffly. "Please let me through."  
  
Hokuto spluttered incoherently for a few seconds - enough time for him to push her out of the way and open the door.  
  
"Ah," he said, seeing the people within. "So it is you."  
  
The room feel ominously silent. The Sakurazukamori turned pale and backed into a corner of the room. Subaru stepped back himself, moving to stand beside Suoh on the far wall.  
  
"You know, I was quite prepared to let you go," continued Seishirou. "I was getting along so well with Hokuto-chan and it just didn't seem all that important anymore. But you had to go and take that all away, didn't you?"  
  
"Seishirou-san..." said Hokuto, suddenly completely certain of what was to happen next. "Seishirou-san, don't do this."  
  
He ignored her. "I must say, you were doing quite well at hiding yourself. I tried nearly everything I could to find you, and it never worked. I even made friends with the Sumeragi in the hope that he would lead me closer to you." Seishirou smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant sight. "I guess it finally worked."  
  
"Seishirou-san... _please_," Hokuto pleaded.  
  
"Must have been quite a shock, to find the girl you killed was one of my closest friends."  
  
"You weren't supposed to find that out," said the assassin, in a terrified tone.  
  
Seishirou laughed, bitterly. "How could I not? All of a sudden the woman I loved was terrified of me. She forgot things she would never in a million years have forgotten. She acted like a complete stranger. Of course I knew what had happened! And of course I knew the spell you'd used, and that there was only person that could have used that spell... You would have been better off leaving her dead."  
  
"If she were dead you would have come after me again."  
  
"Well," said Seishirou, cheerfully. "Looks like you were out of luck, either way." His expression turned serious again. "There are only two women I have ever cared about. You killed both of them."  
  
"Seishirou-san... As the memory of Hokuto-chan, as a friend, and your damned CONSCIENCE please, I'm telling you not to do this!" screamed Hokuto.  
  
"Friends are a liability," he said, and calmly plunged his hand through the other man's chest.  
  
"SEI-CHAN NO BAKA!" [4]  
  
She fled out of the house and into the streets. Dawn was beginning to peek over the horizon and it was all very, very quiet.  
  
Hokuto kicked over a few rubbish bins.   
  
"We could have been friends, damn you!" she said, furiously. "How could you... how could you..."  
  
It was all so desperately, miserably unfair.  
  


~ * ~  


  
Hokuto paid the taxi driver and unlocked her door, vaguely wondering who would be inside.  
  
"Hokuto-chan!" It was only Kakyou, regarding her with an air of apprehensive apology. "I'm sorry. I saw what was going to happen, but when I tried to ring it told me my call couldn't be connected..."  
  
Hokuto fished around in her pocket for her mobile only to find it was switched off. She hit the button and it flashed a "Very low battery!" warning before switching itself off again. "The battery is dead," she said, softly.  
  
"And Subaru's was turned off," continued Kakyou.  
  
"A comedy of errors, then," Hokuto continued, faintly.  
  
"He rang me earlier. You, er, might want to ring him back to tell him you're all right. I have his number here. He was awfully worried about you," said Kakyou, earnestly.  
  
She took the proffered phone and dialled her brother's number.   
  
Her brother sounded extremely relieved to hear her voice. "I'm so glad you called, I was so worried when you just ran off like that..."  
  
"I'm fine," said Hokuto, shortly. "I caught a taxi back home."  
  
"Hokuto-chan... you knew what was going to happen. You knew Seishirou-san would... do that. How?"  
  
"Well," said Hokuto, slowly, "he wanted to get revenge on his mother's killer. Seishirou's mother was the Sakurazukamori."  
  
"Oh," said Subaru, eventually. "Hokuto-chan... I'm sure he didn't..."  
  
"Seishirou-san is...?"  
  
Subaru was silent.  
  
"Where is he, Subaru?"  
  
"He disappeared. I don't know where he went."  
  
"I see," said Hokuto.   
  
"What happened to the girl?" asked Subaru, obviously wanting to change the subject.  
  
"The girl?" said Hokuto, blankly. Memory returned. "Oh! Nokoru and Akira took her to CLAMP Campus."  
  
"CLAMP Campus. Why didn't I think of that?" muttered Subaru. "Okay. I'll take care of it. You go get some sleep, okay?"  
  
"Okay," said Hokuto, meekly. She hung up the phone and returned to where Kakyou sat with twin cups of tea.  
  
"Here," he said, offering her cup.  
  
"Thank you," she said, vaguely. She sipped at the tea for a few seconds before putting it down again. She felt... flat. She'd been so mad earlier, but now she just felt exhausted.  
  
"Are you okay, Hoku-"  
  
"You won't leave me, will you, Kakyou-san?" she interrupted.  
  
"I... What?"  
  
"You won't betray me! You won't go, will you?"  
  
He shook his head. "No... How could I?"  
  
"Thank you," she said, softly. Then she burst into tears.  
  
--  
**Footnotes**  
[1] - Nokoru, Suoh and Akira are, of course, the three boys from CLAMP Campus Detectives. I put in a few explanations in case you don't know them.  
[2] - "Nokoru-san-tachi". -tachi is used to indicate a group, so this is basically "Nokoru-san and co." or "Nokoru-san's group", only less clumsy.  
[3] - Read 20 Mensou ni Onegai for an explanation of Akira's blush. Or just watch the CCD anime.  
[4] - "Sei-chan no baka!" means something like "Sei-chan is an idiot" but it works better in Japanese.  



	8. Day Eight

_Sorry it took a while, I was kind of swamped with schoolwork. Warnings for this are pretty much the same as for all the other parts._  
  
**DAY EIGHT**  
  
Memory returned, slowly. She'd spent the rest of Monday locked up in her room, writing. Hokuto wasn't expecting that any of it would be worth publishing, but it had taken her mind off... things.  
  
She pushed that to the back of her mind. He was gone, now. She didn't have to worry any more.  
  
"Good morning!" she said, cheerfully, walking into the kitchen.   
  
Kakyou was sitting on the floor in front of the long coffee table, writing in a notebook. He looked up as she walked in, finished reading his sentence and closed the book.  
  
"I was thinking maybe today we could go to the zoo or something, it's such a lovely day..." She trailed off. The sky outside was showing distinct evidence of grey clouds. "Oh, forget it." She stared down at the kitchen bench top, tracing patterns with her finger.  
  
//I even made friends with the Sumeragi in the hope that he would lead me closer to you.//  
  
Hokuto repeated the line to herself, quietly. "He said that, you know?" she said to Kakyou. "He was using us all along."  
  
"I don't think--" began Kakyou.  
  
She interrupted him quickly. "No, don't say anything. I don't want to talk about it just yet."  
  
He fell silent.  
  
"You know, I've just realised that you know my entire life story but I don't know much at all about yours." She pulled up a seat behind him and started braiding his hair.  
  
"Well," he said slowly, "I can't remember much from before I was seven. I know I was happy enough, but I kept having these deams... My parents were terrified of me, especially once they knew what I was. So they locked me away.  
  
"It wasn't until a couple of years after that that they realised how they could make use of my gift. They assigned servants to record everything I dreamt."  
  
Hokuto blinked. "How?"  
  
"Everytime I woke, they'd ask me what I'd dreamed about and I had to tell them. The servants were scared of me too, especially when they saw the way my dreams came true."  
  
"So that's what you do for your father now, keep a dream diary?"  
  
He nodded. "I can't exactly control my dreamgazing, but if something is on my mind there's a higher chance of me dreaming about it. Mostly what happened was that he'd ask me about some upcoming motion or election and get me to foresee the result so he could make choices accordingly.  
  
"Sometimes I foresee major or unusual events, like with your death or the falling kekkai in 1999." He glanced at her. "I haven't dreamt of you since, you know. Even in the dream about Seishirou, you weren't in it."  
  
"So... You're dreaming it the way it would have gone if I had died?"  
  
He nodded. "I expect it will sort itself out after a week or two. It has before, when the future was altered. The fact that Subaru even got to the girl in the first place is a sign that the future is fixing itself up."  
  
"I see," said Hokuto. She sighed. "I just can't believe he did that, you know? I thought we could be friends... I really did."   
  
Kakyou protested slightly as she pulled harder on his hair, and she took several deep breaths to relax herself.   
  
"And I'm _still_ absolutely furious with him for playing with me like that."  
  
"Being mad doesn't solve anything," ventured Kakyou.  
  
She stood up, abruptly. "Right now, I couldn't care less about 'solving' this."   
  


~ * ~  


  
Later that day, while she was staring blankly at her computer screen trying to take her mind of things by writing, the doorbell rang. Kakyou answered it, so she just let it be and continued pondering her article.  
  
After about half an hour, when she'd heard nothing from Kakyou about their visitor, she wandered out to see what was going on.  
  
"Mitsuki-san!" said Hokuto in surprise.  
  
"Ah, Hokuto-chan! We were just discussing you."  
  
Hokuto stared at her. "Me?"  
  
"I'm a little worried about you," confessed Kakyou, turning pink.   
  
"Subaru is too. He told me everything," said Mitsuki. "I think we need to talk."  
  
Kakyou got up and moved to another room, presumably so as not to intrude.  
  
Hokuto hesitated. "Er... _everything _everything?"  
  
"Yes, everything! Of course I knew you weren't telling the truth about what happened, but I decided to leave it be. You get used to people having strange secrets when you're married to one of Japan's strongest onmyouji. But then when he came home looking worn out and worried as anything, I decided I had to know. So here I am."  
  
"Um," said Hokuto. "What did you want to talk about?"  
  
Mitsuki looked at her. "You, of course."  
  
"Oh." She paused for a few seconds. "Where?"  
  
"I was thinking we'd go to a cafe."  
  
Hokuto nodded. "Kyou-chan!" she called. "I'm going out for a bit. Take care, okay?"  
  
She waited until she heard an affirmative murmur from the spare room, grabbed her coat and followed Mitsuki out.  
  
"Subaru said you died at 16, but your soul was held in limbo until you ended up here."  
  
"Um... something like that..."  
  
"You must realise you're not 16 anymore and that people are going to treat you differently as an adult."  
  
Hokuto nodded.  
  
"And that's part of why I think you and Seishirou need to talk. He doesn't know how young you are so he has no idea why you've been acting the way you have for the past week."  
  
Hokuto frowned. "I don't want to talk about Seishirou."  
  
Mitsuki looked at her for a moment, then changed the subject. "Well, what would you like to talk about?"  
  
Hokuto thought for a moment. "Subaru said you help out at a women's call in centre. I was wondering what you did there."  
  
The other woman hesitated for a moment. "You know how Subaru and I met, right?"  
  
Hokuto nodded. "At least, I know how it was in my world. You were hiding within because you couldn't deal with the people who belittled the thing that had happened to you, and he helped you out."  
  
Mitsuki nodded. "I decided I wanted to do something for other people, the way _he_ helps other people. I can't make it so that nobody ever goes through that again, but I _can_ make it so they don't have to suffer in silence like I did."  
  
"Men can be such horrible creatures," muttered Hokuto. "You're lucky, you got a good one."  
  
Mitsuki turned faintly pink.  
  
"What you're doing is what all women should be doing!" Hokuto continued, starting to get into the feel of it now. "Standing together, helping each other overcome those who would put us down and finally learning to be ourselves!"  
  
"... Hokuto-chan, sit down. People are staring."  
  
Hokuto sat down. "Do you mind if I come in one day? I'd like to write an article about it."  
  
Mitsuki blinked. "Sure, that should be fine."  
  
"Good," said Hokuto. "It's something I feel rather strongly about," she continued, somewhat sheepishly.  
  
"Kakyou said you were pretty mad about what happened yesterday," said Mitsuki, hesitantly.  
  
"I'll say I'm mad..." Hokuto began.  
  
"It made me worry, far more than what Subaru told me about you."  
  
Hokuto blinked. "Why?"  
  
"It didn't seem like what I knew of the kind of person you are."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You, my girl, are not giving Seishirou a fair chance."  
  
"What are you talking about? He killed me!"  
  
"No, he didn't."  
  
"Well, fine, but he betrayed me! He said that friends were a liability and then he _murdered_ someone!"  
  
"Look, I'm not trying to say what he did was all right, nor that you should even forgive him - if you really feel that way. I just think you should talk to him, that's all."  
  
Hokuto glowered malevolently at her.  
  
"If nothing else, you have to make sure he's not going to suddenly go psychotic and try to kill your brother. And at that, at least, I think you have more pull than Subaru-san. He loved you."  
  
"Subaru?"  
  
Mitsuki glared at her. "You knew perfectly well who I meant. You just don't want to believe it."  
  
"The Sakurazukamori isn't capable of love," said Hokuto, stubbornly.  
  
"Maybe not. But Seishirou was not the Sakurazukamori."  
  
Hokuto fell silent. She reminded herself that Mitsuki was only trying to help, and in almost exactly the way Hokuto had been preaching about earlier. And Mitsuki was _right_. It just hurt so much...   
  
She supposed that sometimes it's just easier to feel things than to think about them. "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?" she asked, flatly, after several minutes of uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Well..." said the other woman, with a slightly wicked grin. "There was one thing..."  
  
Hokuto groaned. "Go ahead, while I'm feeling nice."  
  
"Tell me, Hokuto-chan. About Kakyou-san... do you _like_ him?"  
  
That... was not what she had expected. She looked away. "Well, I... Um. It's hard, you know. I haven't known him very long and of course he's very beautiful and a good person but..." She trailed off uncomfortably. "I just don't know."  
  
"Did you like the _other_ Kakyou?" asked Mitsuki, curiously.  
  
She nodded uncertainly. "I liked him very much... I think. We didn't really know each other for very long... And anyway, this Kakyou isn't quite the same. He's older. More bitter." Hokuto sighed. "I feel so sorry for him, and anyone could tell you that pity is no foundation on which to build a relationship."  
  
The other woman frowned in thought. "He has a crush on you, you know."  
  
Hokuto almost fell out of her chair at the bluntness of it all, and turned bright red. "I thought maybe he did..." she mumbled, in a vain effort to save face. "It worries me. I mean, I'm practically the first person to ever show kindness to him - what if it's only that he's reacting to?"  
  
Mitsuki nodded thoughtfully. "I think... You have a point, but you're worrying about it too much. Why should it matter that the relationship started because you gave him his life?"  
  
"I just... don't want him to start resenting me for it."  
  
Subaru's wife laughed. "I don't think that will happen. You're under-estimating yourself, Hokuto-chan. You're a wonderful person in your own right and is he isn't in love with you because of that... We'll just have to kill him."  
  
"Mitsuki-san!" exclaimed Hokuto, scandalised.  
  
"And, you know what? No relationship is guaranteed to last forever. But you shouldn't let that stop you from trying."  
  
Hokuto nodded. "But... Seishirou-san..."  
  
Mitsuki raised an eyebrow. "You were going to talk to him, remember?"  
  
"Yes. Of course."  
  
--  
_To be continued..._


	9. Day Nine & Ten

**DAY NINE**  
  
Writing was becoming easier now. Hokuto supposed it was sheer force of will that made the words come out, but it was relaxing and kept her mind of... other things.  
  
"I suppose I _should _talk to Seishirou-san," she said to Kakyou, over tea that night.  
  
Kakyou gave her a worried look. "You should, but only if you're sure... I mean, he's already hurt you enough. I don't want you hurt again."  
  
Hokuto glanced at him. "It's okay. I don't think he can hurt me any more than he already has." Of course, that was a lie. She could think of several things worse than death that Seishirou could do to her. But... she didn't think any of them were in character for this Seishirou.  
  
"Just... be careful." He got up and moved to stand by the window, looking out at the city lights beneath and around them.  
  
Hokuto shook her head and watched him silently for a few moments. He really was very pretty, she thought to herself. Almost as pretty as her brother. [1]  
  
"I wonder what happened to him..." she mused, absently swirling the tealeaves in her cup. "The Kakyou from my world, that is. I died before I could help him."  
  
Kakyou turned to look at her, with a serious expression. "If you were to die now, I think I'd want to die too."  
  
Hokuto swallowed quickly. "Don't _say_ that!"  
  
He shrugged. "It's true, though. There's nothing else keeping me here."  
  
She glared at him for a few moments, then relented. "I didn't tell _him _what I was going to do because I thought he'd try to talk me out of it."  
  
"Well... I must admit it doesn't seem like the most intelligent thing you've ever done."  
  
She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "But Subaru had to live! You don't understand, he's the important one. He was the one that needed to live. I'm just expendable."  
  
Kakyou just looked at her. "You are not," he said, in a soft voice,"_expendable_. Don't you think we'd miss you? Your brother _adores_ you. He wouldn't want you to die for him. I wouldn't be surprised if it ruined him for life, you dying for him like that."  
  
Hokuto shook his head. "Subaru's stronger than that."  
  
Kakyou didn't look like he believed her, but he stopped talking all the same.  
  
"And the really stupid thing is that I _encouraged_ them! I liked Seishirou-san, I really did! He was the best thing that ever happened to my brother! Well, until he did _that_." She glowered at and kicked an innocent sofa. "I hate him!"   
  
"I hate him!" she repeated, kicking the sofa again. She wasn't even sure which Seishirou she was talking about now.  
  
"Hokuto-chan..."  
  
She deflated. "I'll talk to him tomorrow."  
  


~ * ~  


  
**DAY TEN**  
  
Of course, she thought, it would have helped if she'd known where to find Seishirou. His mobile had been disconnected and his flat was deserted.  
  
Well, that just left one place to look. She just hadn't wanted to go there ever again.  
  
The sakura was, as usual, the only tree blooming in the park. Under different circumstances, she would have been tempted to just sit back and watch the petals fall. Now, however, she just wanted this over and done with.  
  
"Seishirou-san?" she said, in a small voice. "I know you can hear me. Come here, please. I want... I want to talk to you."  
  
For a while there was nothing but the sound of petals falling and a gentle breeze in the trees surrounding the area. Then she felt the wind pick suddenly, and the next thing she knew he was there, standing next to the tree. His tree.  
  
"Yes, Hokuto-chan?" he said, coolly.  
  
"I thought you deserved an explanation for the way I've been acting to you."  
  
He regarded her evenly. "You are not Hokuto-chan. I don't see that it matters."  
  
She glared at him. "I treated you dreadfully, and there is no excuse for that. None. I realise this now, because I am a decent person." She left the implication hanging in the air.  
  
He let out a sigh, and indicated for her to come closer. "Very well."  
  
"I... I don't know where to start," she said, flopping down in the petals.  
  
He sat down next to her in a more dignified manner, and shrugged.  
  
"Well, what would you like to know?" she persisted, frowning.  
  
"Well, since we're being honest here... I understand that you were confused upon coming into this world, Hokuto-chan, but I don't understand why you kept me in the dark about what was going on. You didn't tell me anything, even when it was obvious something odd was going on with you, but you told your brother and even a complete stranger what had happened."  
  
"I didn't tell you because... Well, I didn't trust you."  
  
"But _why_, Hokuto-chan, _why_? I hadn't done anything that would cause you to lose faith in me."  
  
Hokuto looked away, at the Sakura petals falling around the park. "No... _you_ didn't."  
  
He was silent, obviously waiting for her to continue.  
  
"It's interesting, you know. In both worlds, Sumeragi Hokuto was killed by the Sakurazukamori."  
  
Seishirou continued to look at her, but said nothing.  
  
"Let me tell you a story, Seishirou-san. Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl and they were twins. One day, the boy and the girl met a man. The man and the boy quickly showed some interest in each other, so the girl made it her own personal quest to get them together. She was marginally successful. When the man lost his eye protecting the boy, the boy was convinced he had to confess his feelings. But the man said to the boy that many years ago, when the boy was still a small child, they had made a bet. The bet was that the boy would not be able to make the man feel anything if the man were to stay with him for a year. He said to the boy that he felt nothing; that he had killed his own mother when he was barely a teenager. He broke the boy's arm to prove it.  
  
"The boy was heartbroken. The girl was filled with guilt. She went to the man and told him he should take her instead of her brother. The man took her at her word. As she breathed her last, the girl cast a spell to prevent her brother ever suffering her fate." Hokuto looked up at Seishirou. "The man was the Sakurazukamori. The boy was the Sumeragi clan head. And his sister..."  
  
"Was you, of course. I still don't quite understand you... me..." He trailed off.  
  
She cocked her head, eyes bright like a sparrow's. "Do you understand, Seishirou-san? The one difference between this world and mine, the one that meant the future turned out so very differently, is simply this: In this world, your mother died when you were still very young. In mine, she died when you were fourteen. At your hands."  
  
"I... I see," he said, quietly.  
  
"It _hurt_ when I died, Seishirou-san. It hurt a lot. I wasn't alive but I wasn't dead either and all I knew was constant pain - and hatred for the man that had done this for me. I hated you, Seishirou-san. Hated you more than I thought I was capable of." She shivered, once.   
  
"But... I'm not him," he said, weakly.  
  
"Do you _understand?_" she screamed. "You _killed me_. You shoved that lovely hand of yours right through my chest! And it hurt like crazy and it didn't STOP hurting because, damnit, yes the souls under the tree suffer! They suffer!"  
  
He stared at her.  
  
Hokuto took a deep breath to calm herself. "And how was I to know that you weren't the Sakurazukamori?" she demanded. "It wasn't until that Sunday night that I was convinced you really were just a normal human being, that the Sakurazukamori was some distant figure we had yet to meet. Then I was convinced I could trust you - that we could be friends.  
  
"But then you took that all away."  
  
Seishirou was silent for a moment. "I could never hurt you, Hokuto-chan."  
  
Hokuto deflated. "And... I didn't tell you because I could see how you felt about.. Hokuto-chan, and I didn't want to have to tell you that you killed me," she continued, in a very small voice.  
  
"But why were you so mad at me on Monday night?" he asked.  
  
"Well... I knew if you killed that person, you would become the Sakurazukamori. I didn't want that to happen."  
  
"But..."  
  
"And then you said you only made friends with us because you wanted to find the Sakurazaukamori and that friends were a liability. _He_ told my brother that people were objects to him, that whether he broke a thing or a person it affected him the same way - not at all. I felt betrayed."  
  
He looked away. "Well, it's true in a way. That's how I was raised. I made friends with the Sumeragi twins because I thought they would know how to find the Sakurazukamori. As it turned out, they couldn't. But I _stayed_ friends with them because I liked them."  
  
She nodded, slowly.   
  
"And I have to admit I was rather hurt at the way you'd been treating me. I was beginning to see why my mother had always insisted that emotions meant failure as the Sakurazukamori."  
  
Hokuto frowned at him. "Let me warn you, Seishirou-san: if you ever hurt anything that I care about - and I mean _anything,_ animate or inanimate - I will make it so you can never hurt anything ever again."  
  
He glanced at her, startled. "All right."  
  
"And... Just tell me one thing, Seishirou-san. Are you happy like this?"  
  
He was silent for a moment. "As happy as I can be..."  
  
"And... If, in a few years, you ever need someone to talk to... Just call me, okay? But... not right now. I don't think I could handle it. You hurt me a lot and it still hurts, you know that? I know it wasn't really you, not the 'real' you anyway, but it still hurt. And this... this hasn't helped."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"For what it's worth... I'm sorry, Seishirou-san."  
  
He stood up, extending a hand to help her up. "Goodbye, Hokuto-chan." He drew her close and hugged her tightly.  
  
She stiffened, for a few seconds terrified for her life.  
  
He released her quickly. "I'm sorry."  
  
He was gone before she knew it.  
  
**Footnote(s)  
**[1] Kakyou is way prettier than Subaru, but Hokuto would never admit that.  
**  
**


End file.
